Kaiser Permanente earns top "star" ratings for care and quality

California and federal agencies announced that Kaiser Permanente in California has again earned top ratings for health-care quality. For the seventh consecutive year, Kaiser Permanente in California was the only health plan to earn a four-star rating from the California Office of the Patient Advocate. And the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Kaiser Permanente in California has received an overall rating of five stars for parts C and D, once again the highest possible rating.

The clinical quality report card of the California Office of the Patient Advocate provides consumers with a side-by-side comparison of the largest health plans in the state. For overall quality of care, Kaiser Permanente again earned 4 stars. In the categories “Patients Rate Their HMO” and “Getting Care Easily,” both the Northern California and Southern California plans earned the top rankings in the state.

The federal Medicare Star Quality Rating System assigns scores of 1 to 5 stars to Medicare plans based on more than 50 care and service quality measures across nine categories including staying healthy, managing chronic conditions, member satisfaction, customer service, and pharmacy services.

This is the 4th year that Kaiser Permanente was awarded the only 5-star rating in the state by CMS.

“Kaiser Permanente’s consistently high quality scores in the CMS ratings and other national health-care surveys go hand-in-hand with our leadership role in reshaping American health care,” said Kaiser Permanente Northern California Regional President Greg Adams. “Our high-quality care and a focus on prevention are keeping people healthier and often preventing illnesses and disease from occurring in the first place.”

In the California Office of Patient Advocate report card, Kaiser Permanente in Northern California earned top scores in nine of the 11 report-card categories for clinical care, including asthma and lung care, cancer screening, diabetes care, heart care, maternity care and “getting the right care” for both adults and children.

”At Kaiser Permanente, we are the national leader in providing patients with superior quality, personalized service and convenient health care,” said Robert Pearl, MD, executive director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. “We provide millions of patients technologically advanced medical care that is coordinated across all specialties and saves lives. Our comprehensive screening efforts help patients avoid cancer, heart attacks and strokes. Our outstanding physicians provide comprehensive, state of the art care for the most complex medical conditions. As a result, our 3.6 million members in Northern California have a 30 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 10 percent lower chance of experiencing a stroke compared to those who are not members.”

The Leapfrog Group, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, and J.D.Power and Associates have all awarded Kaiser Permanente top scores this past year.